Three things are set by the state rather than by your city, and all three are routinely got wrong — by homeowners comparing quotes, and by contractors writing them.
The state licensing board covers electrical, HVAC, plumbing, hydronics and refrigeration. Snow removal and landscaping are outside it entirely, so “licensed and insured” carries weight only on the second word.
ORC 5739.01(B)(3)(t) makes snow removal by any mechanized means a taxable service once a contractor’s snow receipts reach $5,000 in a calendar year. Landscaping counts separately.
Ohio is monopolistic: workers’ compensation is available only through the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, and any business with one employee must carry it.
Cleveland Heights Chapter 751: permit, $10,000 bond, continuous insurance, refiled every December 31. The only checkable credential in this trade in the whole metro.
Some states run a certified-applicator program for de-icing. Ohio does not, and no rule limiting a private contractor’s salt use could be found. So there is no badge to ask for here, and any operator implying otherwise is overstating it.
What there is, is chemistry and a state program. Rock salt stops working around 15°F; calcium chloride works to −25°F and magnesium chloride to 5°F. And Ohio is spending on the problem: the H2Ohio Rivers Initiative’s chloride reduction grants put $1.7 million into more than thirty municipalities and counties — $1.12 million to twenty-two local governments for salt-application equipment and $569,000 to nine for salt storage — with Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Erie and Summit counties all receiving equipment grants, against more than 260 applications seeking over $14 million. Salting, properly →
Are you registered for Ohio sales tax on snow work? Do you carry Ohio BWC coverage? And can I see a current certificate of insurance?
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